There are many known software applications for assisting users' memory. For example, there are software applications that provide a personal computer (PC) with the ability to store information input by a user, such as notes, in the form of a text, a file, a link to a Web page, an image or the like, and display the information all the time on a desktop (or a basic operation screen) of a display device. Many of such software applications display information on the desktop to look like sticky notes and this style of display is sometimes called “electronic sticky note”.
Software applications are known that cause a PC to function to display an electronic sticky note over a display screen area of a particular file or a Web page on a display device. To use such a software application, a user specifies association of an electronic sticky note with the position of a file or a Web page on a display screen, and the PC stores information on this association along with display information for the electronic sticky note.
A technique is also known that uses an annotation input by a user and context data which is obtained when the annotation is input to search for information relevant to the annotation and also collect context data close to the annotation.
A technique is also known that recognizes input search keys, selects a number of recognition candidates as search keys in descending order of similarity, and adjusts a display mode of the individual recognition candidates based on the degree of similarity when the recognition candidates are displayed.
Examples of the techniques mentioned above include ones disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2006-113976, 2005-85285, and 2005-18442.
When a user frequently uses electronic sticky notes, the number of electric sticky notes that are displayed on a display device at a time will increase. That is to say, because a large quantity of information is simultaneously displayed, there can be problems of missing necessary information and/or an increase in the time and effort for finding necessary information.
To address these problems, such schemes are conceivable as to delete a electric sticky note that is no longer necessary every time there is such a sticky note, to position important electric sticky notes at more conspicuous positions than less important ones, or to set display position for each predetermined group to which electronic sticky notes belong. However, it is generally difficult to correctly judge in advance whether certain information is necessary or unnecessary, how important certain information is, and to which group certain information belongs, and if the judgment is made incorrectly, the convenience of electronic sticky notes would be significantly degraded.
In a method that displays electronic sticky notes over the display screen area of a particular file or a Web page, the increase in the number of electronic sticky notes that results from frequent utilization thereof is reduced. However, the user cannot handle information shown on an electronic sticky note unless the user opens a file or a Web page associated with that electronic sticky note (e.g., unless the user has the file or Web page displayed on the display device). Thus, this method of display has a limited application because it is based on the premise that a file or a Web page associated with an electronic sticky note must be opened when information on the electronic sticky note is needed. The method also cannot handle information of such as “Which file or Web page should be opened to get the necessary information”, for example. Furthermore, this style cannot associate an electronic sticky note with multiple combinations of files and/or Web pages. Accordingly, when a “business trip application page” and a “route search page” are concurrently displayed, which indicates that the user is preparing for a business trip, for example, this style cannot provide a function of automatically displaying an electronic sticky note on which “hotel information”, e.g., information on accommodation, is shown.